Contact cleaner is probably a good idea though I never used it because I've seen contact cleaner degrade some kinds of plastic, probably would have helped a lot when working on sets folks have smoked around. All that greasy crap from cigarettes coats everything and the dust has a party in it.
The thing about using contact or "tuner" cleaner is that it acts as both a degreaser and a cleanser, but also dissipates rather easily. Great stuff. Never ate away anything that didn't belong from my experience anyway.
And very true about cigarette smoke. If anyone ever has any doubts as to the damage it causes to the human body - try looking inside of certain electronics like picture tubes or even CD laser assemblies. That shit literally cakes and coats everything and attracts dust and even more tar and crap as time goes on. RARE is the classic arcade machine NOT completely coated in the stuff.
Similarly, did you know that the fumes of Kerosene literally eat away wiring and circuit board traces? That's some pretty potent stuff. And yeah, it's hardly used anymore to heat peoples homes, garages, or whatever - but back in the 70's and 80's, I knew a few families that had those things running as their main source of heat. My dad even tried it for a short stint in his stubborn refusal to get the old oil radiators repaired, so I've seen first hand the damage those fumes can cause. Yuck!
BTW: nothing wrong with giving advice, just have to remember to warn about the perils of this sort of thing. lol I like to chime in once in a while about hardware dealings because I'm not so good with the software side of it. Countless people here have helped me with configuration or software probs, so I figure if I can help out in anyway with hardware - that some of the Karma and gratitude gets paid back.
